twentythirteenfandomcom-20200213-history
Kara Svava
Originally an aerospace engineer for Atlas, Kara was endowed with the form, power, and skill of one of the ancient Valkyries during the Shift. Since then, she has become an almost peerless warrior, and protector of many. Abilities Skills Kara has a PhD in chemical engineering, with a specialty in aeronautical fuel development. She is an exceptional mathematician and chemist, and highly knowledgeable on many aspects of science and physics, having also obtained a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering. Of course, this means that she is, by necessity, also highly skilled with computers and many other types of technology. She is also an excellent aircraft pilot, having gone up in scores of aircraft types over the years, as part of her research into exactly how her fuel types burn. Enhanced Physiology Kara’s musculature is far more powerful than an ordinary human’s, making her absolute strength approximately five times greater than a professional weightlifter’s. Since, at the same time, her muscles are far less bulky than anyone of such power, she retains an extreme degree of agility and flexibility, which also makes her extremely fast, especially in short bursts. This enhancement extends to all aspects of her physiology, including her connective tissues, her skin, tendons and ligaments, all of which are far tougher than normal in order to support her power. Finally, her senses are far sharper than a human’s – particularly her eyesight, which is on par with that of an eagle, important when she is flying high above the world on her wings. The trade-off to this is that she is also required to consume much more food than a normal human, to fuel her powerful metabolism. Durability Mostly as a product of her enhanced musculature and connective tissues, Kara is far more durable than an ordinary human, able to resist trauma that would be lethal to any normal human. She can survive great physical impacts with little damage, and piercing and slashing attacks have a much harder time penetrating her skin. She is not bulletproof, though her extremely tough tissues mean that such attacks generally result in much shallower wounds – such wounds for her are much more survivable. Her bones are the toughest part of her, however, and are nearly unbreakable. Battle Artistry Kara has an innate talent for combat tactics and strategy, to the point that she can refine combat to a true art. She fights equally well alone or in a group, and is an astonishingly skilled leader as well. She has a natural skill with weapons, simply touching one is enough to grant her an instant understanding of how to fight with it on a master’s level. This is limited to simple weapons, however – it does not function with modern weaponry or firearms, though her natural martial talent does enable her to learn. She is not likely to do so, however, as she has a strange distaste for these more modern, impersonal weapons. If given a choice, Kara favors polearms, particularly the poleax. Valkyrie's Aura Kara possesses a powerful aura that is present around her at all times, instilling awe in those around her. The effect of the aura varies based on her mood. The Valkyrie has the aura of a leader, and her aura commands respect, honesty, and gives courage to her allies – particularly if she has gained their trust. As well, she is a beautiful creature, but in her anger, she is terrible as well; her presence in a battle can cause even determined enemies to flee in terror, especially when she releases a battle cry and charges for her foes. This aura has a much more powerful effect on the faint of heart. In addition to her innate talent with arms and armor, Kara's own energy infuses any metal she wears or carries, heavily reinforcing it - It does not make an edge any sharper, a poor-quality blade remains of poor quality, but so long as her spirit remains strong, the weapon will be nearly impossible to break. As well, the armor she wears becomes far tougher than it has any right to be, allowing steel plating to stop bullets. This ONLY works with purpose-forged weapons and armor, the effort and focus put into forging steel for battle by the armorer is required to make this work for her - it is that spiritual connection she seizes upon, the bond between warrior, weapon, and smith. A simple metal pole is just that, as is any normal piece of metal. In addition, as a creature with a powerful connection to the ethereal realms, and who can see partially across the veil between life and death, weapons carried by the Valkyrie are capable of wounding ethereal and incorporeal creatures of many kinds. The ability to fade into such a form is little protection against her - should one attempt to flee in such a manner, not only do her eyes see the invisible aura of the creature, her blade cuts the spirit, wounding despite the lack of presence. Should she become weak or fall unconscious, the effect dissipates quickly, and the same is true if the item should fall from her grasp. Thrown items retain their power only while they remain in flight. Flight The most prominent visual aspect of Kara’s appearance are her two massive, snow white wings. Both are extremely powerful, and capable of bearing her aloft at speeds upwards of 100mph, or even greater speeds in a dive. Chooser of the Slain In the Norse mythology, the Valkyries were the angels of death, responsible for selecting those dying warriors who had earned for themselves a place in Valhalla, to fight and feast endlessly with the gods. Kara has no such divine power (that she is aware of), but she does have an ability to sense the ‘aura’ around spirits, particularly those of the dying. This power allows her to ease the passing of the dying, and also to sense those no longer holding a corporeal form, including those whose powers give them such a form. Biological Profile Appearance Kara is a striking figure, well above average height at nearly 6’6”. She has long, blonde hair and pale hazel eyes, though these have been known to take a blue hue, particularly when her aura is at its strongest and her Valkyrie nature emerges more completely. Her body is lean and powerful, with a cold beauty very appropriate to someone stepping right out of Norse mythology. Of course, easily her most striking feature is her wings. Her wingspan is nearly a full twenty feet, and the feathers are a beautiful, snow white. She can fold them in tight against her back, and they do fold to a much smaller size than one might suspect, much like a bird’s. Even so, they pose something of an obstacle when tight spaces are involved, or things like trying to drive a car. Personal Belongings Kara usually carries her laptop and a smartphone with her, as well as a few pads to work on in a bag over one shoulder – she is rarely without her work entirely in some way. More and more often, however, she can be seen in her specially made armor, which was manufactured for her by a friend at Atlas. The armor is made of a special metallic composite originally designed for military aircraft, pounded electromagnetically into a sort of Damascus material, and is extremely strong while being light enough for her to fly in. It consists of many interlocking plates, with mail to cover the areas requiring flexibility. The metal is a dark blue, with silver accents in places. She also often carries a long poleax, made of a similar material and expertly crafted. Personality Likes Ice cream, and chocolate in general - Weapons, other than firearms - Flying, whether on her own or in an aircraft - Reading - Combat – much to her own dismay Dislikes:: – Firearms - Accountants (her fuel is NOT too expensive, and she needs new equipment!) - Buildings with low ceilings - HLNA (but then, what meta doesn’t?) - Interruptions Strengths – Skill: Whether in the lab or in combat, Kara is extremely quick, and very smart. Her tactics in a battle are incredible to behold, and should the need arise, she would wield an army as deftly as her poleax. - Toughness: The Valkyrie is incredibly strong, mentally and physically. Her determination is nearly a supernatural force, making illusions or other tricks difficult to pull over her eyes. - Instinct: Smart as she is, in a battle, Kara doesn’t even need to think about her next move. For her, combat flows as a dance, and one to which she already innately knows the steps. Her already quick reaction time is enhanced even further by the fact that she has no need whatsoever to consider her next move – she already knows it, whatever happens. Weaknesses – Social Misfit: Kara has never been comfortable with people in general, especially in large groups. - Compulsive: Kara suffers from a mild case of OCD, which typically manifests as her being what one might call ‘being a workaholic’, if one enjoyed understatement. - Righteous Fury: Since the shift, Kara cannot abide a number of things, particularly an unfair fight. She has an extremely rigid sense of honor, and it is extremely difficult for her to bend them for any reason. Spiritual Convictions Despite her visage, Kara feels little actual compulsion to worship Odin or the other Norse deities, though she does tend to adhere to their traditions even so. Personality Overview Before the Shift, ‘meek’ would have been an excellent word to describe Kara. She was quiet, gentle, and extremely particular about keeping things in order. The latter made her very good at her job, and seeing as it WAS one of the few things she was very good at, she put her body and soul into her work with nearly every breath for years. She took a great pride in her fuels, and loved flying the aircraft she powered more than anything in the world. Apart from that, she kept herself hidden, staying home usually, and doing little besides; which, of course, was one of the many things that made the Shift so very jarring. Since the Shift, however, Kara changed from the gentle lab rat into a six-and-a-half foot tall avatar of Norse vengeance… and the transition has been more than just physical. While much of her old self remains, the Valkyrie’s presence is powerful, and many things have been proven different about her. She is much quicker to anger, especially where she sees what she perceives as wrong. It would not be hard to assume that she has two distinct personalities – gentle Kara, and the terrible Valkyrie, powerful and wrathful, though fair. In truth, she has no true split, but it is much like her old personality traits re-emerge more from habit than anything else. When she is calm, she often seems mostly herself – though the confidence she has gained since the Shift is difficult to hide. When risen to anger, however, she is everything the legends say of her kind, and while she takes no pleasure in actual killing, she would never hesitate if a foe truly pushed her so far. Even so, she has been slowly learning to temper her fury with her old gentle nature… though, at most, this tends to result in her going easier on a foe. Easier, of course, meaning she leaves them with broken bones, rather than severed limbs. The only part of her new self Kara never has difficulty with is her ability to fly – it was her most beloved pastime before, and being able to do it without a plane at all has been a glory for her, and one she is deeply glad of. It almost makes up for all the rest. History The third of five children, and the only girl, she grew up in a quite sheltered environment. She was also considered rather an odd bird, for a number of reasons – her light case of OCD being one of the primary ones. Always protected by her brothers, particularly her twin, she had little to fight for on her own, and spent much of her time reading, amassing knowledge and going to school. When it came time to go to college, however, little Kara made a surprising choice – she would go to America, all the way to California in fact, as far away from Sweden as she could get. It was difficult for her family to let her go, and for her to leave, but she explained it as best she could: she needed to go out in order to find some strength of her own. Unfortunately, things did not quite go that way for little Kara. She kept mostly to herself in college, spending her hours just as buried in her work and her books as she ever had, but she was not unhappy with it. On the flight across the Atlantic, she discovered her first true love – aircraft and flying. High up above, in the skies, she didn’t have to be shy or worry about other people – she was free. Despite her love of flying, talent for chemistry pushed her into chemical engineering, and Kara wound up going into fuel engineering, both for spacecraft and aircraft. She worked at Boeing for several years before being hired in to run the fuel development division of Atlas, where she has worked for the past six years. Working often with the military development division, she had a hand in a great many important developments in Atlas’s technology. They were very close to a highly important break in a major technology when the Shift hit… and everything changed. Overnight, Kara woke to find that she had grown more than a foot in height, and that was the least of her changes. She no longer needed her glasses – her eyesight was in fact better than a human’s had any right to be. She was strong, too – powerful enough that, in her terror at her own reflection, she fell back, and destroyed half her bathroom in her flailing. It was the wings, however, that were the worst of it… flying came naturally to her, and so many things as well came to her as if she had been born to them, but all so very contrary to who she had been. It was her newfound strength and temper that became the most difficult for her to deal with, however. Without meaning, she would find herself snapping at co-workers, and in one instance she lost control of her temper and actually found herself drawing a blade on one who had announced his intention to abandon the company, for his disloyalty. She apologized all she could, but the outbursts remain difficult to control, and so her adjustment has continued. In addition to her duties as an engineer, she has taken on duties as a member and sometime leader of the security detachment, which Odin actually ended up naming for her kind – appropriate, given his name and his new name for their massive New York complex. She still works on her fuels when she is able, but such work has become increasingly difficult for the warrior ‘goddess’… another of her many current quandaries. Time Line June 23rd, 2014 - What kind of Dream is it? - Kara is late to the opening of Odin's great Valhalla... and arrives too late to stop a bombing. August 10th, 2014 - Fate or Destiny? - On one of her frequent flights about the city, Kara goes to find her car and a few things, and winds up interrupting an attack on the Oracle by a group possibly linked to the HLNA. After terminating the attack with prejudice, she and the Oracle find a number of things in common. October 13th, 2014 - Body Swapping! - Visiting the park at the college, Kara stops to talk to another girl carrying a pre-firearm weapon (a bow and arrow) and somehow finds herself in the body of a much smaller lady, a psionic mage from the Order... and stuck there. Meanwhile, many other people find themselves swapped, and a male cat-burglar (literally) winds up in her own form. October 23, 2014 - I'm Not Really Worth Much After getting some coffee and cookies at a coffee shop, Kara spots (and interrupts) a group of men attempting to steal from a girl with arms of diamond. Considering the target of the theft IS her arms, that turns out to be important. Trivia Interesting facts about your character here. Category:Characters Category:Metahumans Category:Meta Human Alliance Category:Knights of the Veil